Biographic - Sunday June 14, 2015 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

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Tony Hawk Some of skateboarding's most intricate movies- tricks with names like The Frontside Hurricane, The 360 Flip to FAkie, The 540 Board Varial, The Kickflip McTwist and The Stalefish 720 were invented and popularized by Skateboard superstar Tony Hawk. Throughout the 1980s, and 1990s. Tony consistently pushed the boundaries of what was possible in the sport, becoming a star of movies, TV commercials and video games along the way. But one trick continued to elude Tony and his peers- the fabled 400. Tony Hawk was born in Carlsbad, California, on May 12, 1968. A professional skateboarder by the age of 14, he became the first National Skateboard Association World Champion in 1983. By his mid-teens, Tony was skating in competitions around the world, earning enough in sponsorship, prize money and royalties to buy his own house when he was still only 17 years old. By the early 1990s, Tony was a superstar in the world of Skateboarding- and when the first ESPN Extreme Games were televised, he became an instant celebrity. Suddenly, kids everywhere wanted to do an Ollie 540 like Hawk! He dominated the support throughout the decade and appeared in movies, commercials, and videos, but the best was yet to come. The holy grail for skaters was the 400, a daring movie that requires 21/2 rotations in mid-air. Tony first attempted it in 1986 and deemed it too difficult. He tried it again in 1997 and crashed heavily. Ove the next two years, skateboarders vied to see who would be the first to do "The Impossible." Finally, at the 1994 X Games with the Cameras Rolling, The World's Greatest Skateboarder achieved the sports hardest trick. Newspapers and TV stations the world over trumpeted his incredible achievement, cementing Tony Hawk's place in sporting legend. Tony retired from professional competitions in 1999. That same year saw the launch of the Video Game "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" the game was hailed as revolutionary for its unique gameplay and soundtrack. It was the start of hugely successful series that dominated the genre for years. Last month, the announcement that the series would return later this year with "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5" created huge excitement in the gaming press.

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